- Email: [email protected]
Squamanita Odorata Found in Britain
Vol 14 (2)
Squamanita odorata found in Britain John Leach* his note reports the finding of Squamanita odorata new to Britain in Idle Valley Nature Reserve in Nottinghamshire in October 2010, confirmed by a second finding in October 2012. The Reserve is situated on alluvial sands next to the river Idle and is managed by the Nottinghamshire Wildlife Trust. Like its neighbour Daneshill it contains working and disused sand and gravel pits with the latter having been allowed to naturalise. There are also large areas of recently designated SSSI reed beds. It consists of open grassland and acidic scrub with willow prominent throughout the area. There are also areas of mixed woodland and a small area dominated by larch. Willow plantations provide ‘green’ biomass which is used by a nearby power station and in return, the by-product - Pulverised Fly Ash (PFA) is dumped and spread in designated areas.
On 24th October 2010 Les Coe visited the Lound area of the reserve. Normally I would have been foraying with him but illness at the time prevented this. Les emailed me images of various fungi he had found and one caught my interest. I forwarded it to Nick Legon for his comments and he quickly confirmed my suspicion that it could well be Squamanita odorata and a first British record. Unfortunately Les didn’t realise the significance of the find and so didn’t collect it, though he did record an excellent image (Fig 1). He noted that it smelt strongly aromatic or of burnt sugar, and was growing in sandy soil, amongst Hebeloma mesophaeum and close to Salix. A view of the area in which it was found is shown in Fig. 2. To make matters worse it was two weeks before we re-found the specimen. In fact on one occasion we spent two hours on our hands and knees searching in the wrong area. Interestingly when we did find the location the remains still had a faint smell of burnt sugar. The remains were sent to Kew where several people looked at the material. The material had spores matching those of a Cortinarius, so the material was forwarded to Gareth Griffith who extracted DNA which matched Cortinarius also but no Squamanita spores or DNA were found. However both Martyn and Geoffrey Kibby agreed the images were of a Squamanita. We were devastated by this verdict but optimistic that if it existed there, we would find it again someday. A return visit on the 2nd September, 2012 to a different area but close to the original find resulted in the images shown in Fig. 3 and on the back cover, a small clump of four fruitbodies less than 3 cm in height and width, growing on a bulbous host in sand under Larix and amongst Hebeloma mesophaeum. A view of the area can be seen in Fig. 4, which also gives an idea of the habitat. We decided to cover the specimen and secure the area the best we could and return later in the hope it was still there and had developed more. I also informed Martyn Ainsworth at Kew.
T
Fig. 1. The initial find of Squamanita odorata, Idle Valley Nature Reserve, Notts., 24th October 2010. Photograph © Les Coe.
* [email protected], 14 Redfern Drive, Waterthorpe, Sheffield S20 7LP
doi:10.1016/j.fldmyc.2013.03.007
53
Vol 14 (2)
Fig. 2. Site of the first find of S. odorata. 24th October 2010. Photograph © John Leach.
Fig. 3. Image showing four fruit bodies, 2nd September 2012. Photograph © Les Coe.
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Vol 14 (2) Two days later a group of us returned to check the development. The sight that greeted us reduced me to tears. A rodent or slug had almost destroyed the specimen and the only things remaining were parts of the host and ‘scale’ remnants from the Squamanita (Fig. 5). It was suggested that I should still dry the remains and send them off to Martyn Ainsworth at Kew in the hope that something positive could be found. In the meantime I emailed Martyn the images of the remains. On seeing the images Martyn obviously wasn’t very optimistic about finding anything again and neither was anyone else really. With little to lose I thought I would take a very small sample of the ‘scale’ remnants and prepare a few slides. I found what I believed to be S. odorata spores measuring on average 6.8 x 4.3 µm. I then spent a few anxious days waiting for news from Martyn. The email finally arrived and Martyn confirmed it was indeed S. odorata and will be the first vouchered British record. Hopefully our next find will provide a better specimen for the fungarium and it will certainly not be left in the ground for the slugs!
Fig. 5. Remains of the Squamanita two days after the initial sighting. Photograph © John Leach.
Fig. 4. John Leach photographing Squamanita odorata. Photograph © Les Coe.
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Squamanita odorata found in Britain John Leach* his note reports the finding of Squamanita odorata new to Britain in Idle Valley Nature Reserve in Nottinghamshire in October 2010, confirmed by a second finding in October 2012. The Reserve is situated on alluvial sands next to the river Idle and is managed by the Nottinghamshire Wildlife Trust. Like its neighbour Daneshill it contains working and disused sand and gravel pits with the latter having been allowed to naturalise. There are also large areas of recently designated SSSI reed beds. It consists of open grassland and acidic scrub with willow prominent throughout the area. There are also areas of mixed woodland and a small area dominated by larch. Willow plantations provide ‘green’ biomass which is used by a nearby power station and in return, the by-product - Pulverised Fly Ash (PFA) is dumped and spread in designated areas.
On 24th October 2010 Les Coe visited the Lound area of the reserve. Normally I would have been foraying with him but illness at the time prevented this. Les emailed me images of various fungi he had found and one caught my interest. I forwarded it to Nick Legon for his comments and he quickly confirmed my suspicion that it could well be Squamanita odorata and a first British record. Unfortunately Les didn’t realise the significance of the find and so didn’t collect it, though he did record an excellent image (Fig 1). He noted that it smelt strongly aromatic or of burnt sugar, and was growing in sandy soil, amongst Hebeloma mesophaeum and close to Salix. A view of the area in which it was found is shown in Fig. 2. To make matters worse it was two weeks before we re-found the specimen. In fact on one occasion we spent two hours on our hands and knees searching in the wrong area. Interestingly when we did find the location the remains still had a faint smell of burnt sugar. The remains were sent to Kew where several people looked at the material. The material had spores matching those of a Cortinarius, so the material was forwarded to Gareth Griffith who extracted DNA which matched Cortinarius also but no Squamanita spores or DNA were found. However both Martyn and Geoffrey Kibby agreed the images were of a Squamanita. We were devastated by this verdict but optimistic that if it existed there, we would find it again someday. A return visit on the 2nd September, 2012 to a different area but close to the original find resulted in the images shown in Fig. 3 and on the back cover, a small clump of four fruitbodies less than 3 cm in height and width, growing on a bulbous host in sand under Larix and amongst Hebeloma mesophaeum. A view of the area can be seen in Fig. 4, which also gives an idea of the habitat. We decided to cover the specimen and secure the area the best we could and return later in the hope it was still there and had developed more. I also informed Martyn Ainsworth at Kew.
T
Fig. 1. The initial find of Squamanita odorata, Idle Valley Nature Reserve, Notts., 24th October 2010. Photograph © Les Coe.
* [email protected], 14 Redfern Drive, Waterthorpe, Sheffield S20 7LP
doi:10.1016/j.fldmyc.2013.03.007
53
Vol 14 (2)
Fig. 2. Site of the first find of S. odorata. 24th October 2010. Photograph © John Leach.
Fig. 3. Image showing four fruit bodies, 2nd September 2012. Photograph © Les Coe.
54
Vol 14 (2) Two days later a group of us returned to check the development. The sight that greeted us reduced me to tears. A rodent or slug had almost destroyed the specimen and the only things remaining were parts of the host and ‘scale’ remnants from the Squamanita (Fig. 5). It was suggested that I should still dry the remains and send them off to Martyn Ainsworth at Kew in the hope that something positive could be found. In the meantime I emailed Martyn the images of the remains. On seeing the images Martyn obviously wasn’t very optimistic about finding anything again and neither was anyone else really. With little to lose I thought I would take a very small sample of the ‘scale’ remnants and prepare a few slides. I found what I believed to be S. odorata spores measuring on average 6.8 x 4.3 µm. I then spent a few anxious days waiting for news from Martyn. The email finally arrived and Martyn confirmed it was indeed S. odorata and will be the first vouchered British record. Hopefully our next find will provide a better specimen for the fungarium and it will certainly not be left in the ground for the slugs!
Fig. 5. Remains of the Squamanita two days after the initial sighting. Photograph © John Leach.
Fig. 4. John Leach photographing Squamanita odorata. Photograph © Les Coe.
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